Beginning teachers as policy workers in Malaysia and New Zealand

Authors

  • Vivienne Ruth Anderson University of Otago
  • Sharon Young University of Otago
  • Keely Blanch University of Otago
  • Lee Smith University of Otago

Keywords:

Malaysia, New Zealand, beginning teachers, education policy

Abstract

In 2007, the Malaysia government initiated twinned primary teacher education arrangements with five Southern Hemisphere higher education institutions (HEIs). Participating students completed their teacher education in both Malaysia and a partner HEI. In this paper, we consider the preliminary findings of a comparative study tracking the beginning teacher journeys of 13 Malaysia based twinning programme graduates and six New Zealand based teachers. The study involved two aspects: (1) a comparative discourse analysis of key Malaysia and New Zealand education policy documents; and (2) thematic and discourse analysis of participants’ reflections on their early teaching experiences. Our focus is on beginning teachers as ‘policy workers’: policy subjects whose work is shaped and constrained by policy discourses and imperatives, and policy actors who mediate, translate and resist these. We compare the two policy contexts and consider how policy discourses appeared and were contested in teachers’ initial online questionnaire responses.

Author Biographies

  • Vivienne Ruth Anderson, University of Otago
    Vivienne Anderson is a senior lecturer at the Higher Education Development Centre, University of Otago, New Zealand. Her research interests include internationalisation policy and practice, gender and education, and students' post-graduation pathways.
  • Sharon Young, University of Otago
    Sharon has recently retired from her work as a senior lecturer at the University of Otago College of Education where she taught in pre-service teacher education programmes.
  • Keely Blanch, University of Otago
    Keely is a doctoral student and research assistant at the University of Otago College of Education. Her PhD is exploring young people's understandings of digital citizenship.
  • Lee Smith, University of Otago
    Lee is an assistant research fellow at the University of Otago. Her research interests include sexuality, gender, and education, and qualitative research methodologies.

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Published

2015-12-10

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 2 (2015): Special Edition: 2014 ANZCIES Conference Keynotes and Selected Papers

Section

Vol 17(1) Special Edition

License

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